Hair curler with selectively engageable fastening means



June 1, 1965 A. TEOPILIAN 3,186,415

HAIR CURLER WITH SELECTIVELY ENGAGEABLE FASTENING MEANS Filed Aug. 20,1962 rgy United States Patent 3,186,415 HAIR CURLER WITH SELEIJTIVELYENGAGE- ABLE FASTENING MEANS Aram Teopiiian, 1056 59th St., New York,N.Y. Filed Aug. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 218,050 1 Claim. (Cl. 13'2-42) Thisinvention pertains generally to the art of hair curlers, and moreparticularly to an improved form thereof offering a large number ofadvantages over types now known in the art.

Hair curlers have heretofore been relatively complicated, expensive tomanufacture, and many have incorporated metallic resilient elementswhich are subject to rust, loss of resiliency, and other accompanyingdisadvantages. The high cost of manufacture of conventional hair curling devices has been in part due to the fact that they are made byassembling several components, which must fit each other with reasonableaccuracy, and also partially due to the fact that metallic stampings arerelatively expensive.

It is therefore among the principal objects of the pres ent invention toprovide an efficient hair curling device in which the use of metallicparts has been totally eliminated.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a hair curlerof the type described in which all of the component parts maybe moldedfrom suitable synthetic resinous stock in an integral form, therebyeliminating the necessity of fitting and assembling separate components.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of a device ofthe class described in which the cost of fabrication may be of anextremely low order, thereby permitting wide sale, distribution and use.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of structurewhereby the device may be positively locked in the closed positionthereof, yet which may be easily opened and closed.

Still another object of the invention lies in the provision of haircurler structure which may be easily manipulated by the user in curlingthe hair, and which may be readily removed after the curling operation.

A feature of the invention lies in the fact that the device being formedentirely from synthetic resinous stock, no separate resilient componentsare necessary in the formation of the device, thereby eliminating apotential source of trouble in operation.

Another feature of the device lies in the fact that owing to the lack ofmetallic parts, the device may easily be sterilized when required.

The present application is an improvement on my Patent No. 2,668,546.

Another object of the present invention lies in the provision of lockingstructure in which the expansive pressure of the coiled hair tends topull the parts into a more securely locked condition.

These ob'ects and features, as well as other incidental ends andadvantages, will become more clearly apparent during the course of thefollowing disclosure, and be pointed out in the appended claims.

On the drawing, to which reference will be made in the specification,similar reference characters have been employed to designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing a preferred embodiment of theinvention in open position, and in use.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the said embodiment in open position.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, corresponding to that shown on FIGURE 4and showing a closed position.

FIGURE 4 is an elevattional view showing another closed position.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary end perspective view showing the device in aclosed position with the largest size opening.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary and perspective view showing another closedposition.

FIGURE 7 is an end elevational view showing the curl retaining elementbeing inserted into a closed position.

FIGURE 8 is an end elevational view corresponding to FIGURE 7 butshowing the curl retainer in a closed middle position.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged fragmentary detail elevational corresponding topart as shown in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 10 is a vertical detail sectional view as seen from theplane10-10 on FIGURE 9.

In accordance with the invention, the device, generally indicated byreference character 10, comprises broadly a main body element 12, and acurl retaining element 14. The entire device is preferably formed from asingle molding or casting of a flexible, resilient, synthetic resinousstock. If desired, the device may also be formed in two pieces, withseparate main body element 12 and curl retaining element 14, using twodifferent types of plastics. Where the entire device is formedintegrally, I have found polyethylene to be a suitable material. Wherethe same is made in two parts, the main body element may be formed froma relatively less flexible material, as for example polystyrene. Variousvinyl compositions are also suitable.

The main body element 12 includes a base member 16, which connects apair of leg members 18 and 20. The members 18 and 20 are in mutualabutted arrangement, to form a hair retaining channel 22 therebetween.The base member 16 is provided with a rounded outer surface 24, topermit easy grasping by the user, the outermost portion 26 forming aline of interconnection with the inner end of the curl retaining element14.

The leg member 18 has an end 19 which curves outwardly and coacts withthe angularly disposed surface 34, to form an entrance for the lock ofhair being curled.

The leg member 20 has an enlarged end 30 which is rounded at 31 andwhich is provided with a plurality of interceding slots 36, 37, 38, 39(FIG. 7). The rounded portion 31 facilitates the insertion of theportion 50 of the curl retaining element 14. The width of the slots36-39 is narrower at the end surface and wider at the base of the slot.This configuration is best seen in FIG- URE 40f the accompanyingdrawings: At the narrower entrance to the slots the width is less thanthe width of the portion 56 and at the base the width of each slot issubstantially equal to the width of the portion 50.

The curl retaining element 14 is of generally planar configuration, asmay best be seen on FIGURE 2, and may be bounded by an inner edge 51,and outer edge 40 and side edges 42 and 44. The side edges 42 and 44have indentations or notches 52 and 54 to provide the portion 50. As hasbeen mentioned, the inner edge 51 is secured to or may be integral withthe main body element 12, and the element 14 is free to flex in eitherdirection about this edge. The length of the curl retaining element 14,as measured between the inner edge 51 and the portion 50, respectively,is sufiicient to permit the same to be bent around and slidably securedand held, as shown on FIGURES 3 to 8, wherein the notch portion 50 isinserted into the slots 36-39 of the leg member 20.

In use, the device is employed in such manner that the end of a lock ofhair to be curled is placed in the hair retaining channel 22, duringwhich time the curl retaining element 14 extends outwardly. The mainbody ele- Patented June I, 15965 r to make it operate, but may work 'inthe formation of a curl, care being taken to avoid the covering of theslots 36-39 When the curl is formed, the curl'retaining element is bentabout the portion 26 and the portion 5% is engaged in one or more of theslots 36-39. Upon release of the device, the engagement of the curledhair with the curl retaining element 14 prevents the hair from becomingunwound. When it is desired to remove the device, the reverse procedureis followed, the curl retaining element 14 being first disengaged, afterwhich the main body element 12 is unwound, wherein the end of the nowcurled lock of hair may be released. I 7

Because the hair retaining channel 22 has an entrance 23 effected by ashortening of the leg 18 and a widening of the end of the leg 20, theuse of the device is made very simple and easy. Having separated withone hand a lock of hair to be curled, pressure (using the other hand) ofthe enlarged end 30 against the hair lock opens the entrance 23 and thechannel 22 wider so that the lock may be easily slipped therein to startthe curl. Thus the user need not see the device in order blind, by senseof touch alone. 1

The end 343 of the leg 20 having the crossed slots 36-39 and which areoutwardly narrow (see FIGURES 4 and 6) when the portion 50 is insertedinto the slots 36-39, a snap-like action tending to retain theinterconnection is obtained between the portion 56 and the surfacesdefining the slots 36-39.

This provides locking and automatic adjustment such as that shown inFIGURES 5 and IO'Where it will be noted that the notch end portions52'and 54 need to engage the grooves 60 at slot ends in order for alocking action to take place.

As seen in FIGURES 3 and 6 the provision. of. the plural slots 36-39enables the user to insert the portion 50 in any one of them. This is aconvenience particularly when the user is working at the back of her ownhead. Furthermore, when the hair that is wound on the device isrelatively thin, the twisting of the element 14 has the etfectofslightly shortening the same to maintain tighter compression on thehair.

It may thus be seen that I have invented novel and highly usefulimprovements in hair curlers, in which there are provided simple andinexpensive one-piece curlers which may be manufactured at a very lowcost, and which possess substantially no moving parts. The devices maybe molded in one piece, thus materially lowering the cost ofmanufacture, and as there are no metallic parts comprising the same, thedevices may be completely impervious to water, waving solutions, or thedeleterious effects of moisture. The devices are resistant to breakageas well, and have no sharp edges which might cause damage when thewearer is sleeping. Once engaged, the same will not become accidentallydisengaged from the hair of the wearer, although the same may be easilyremoved when desired. Thus the present invention constitutes a distinctimprovement of structure over the prior art devices which are not asconvenient in use and which have a great tendency for accidentaldisengagement. 1 Since the portion 56 of the curl retaining element 14is slidable along the enlarged inner portions of the slots 36-3?inclusive, but is slightly wider than the narrower outer portions ofsaid slots, this allows the element 14 tobe pulled by the expansivecharacteristics of the coiled hair so that the wider handle portion atthe notch end portions 52' and 54' becomes engaged and retained by thegrooves 6%), resulting in positive locking. Yet, a simple reversal ofthese movements quickly unlocks the device It) for convenient removal.

I wish it to be understood that I do not consider the invention limitedto the exact details of structure shown and set forth in thisspecification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled inthe art to which the present invention pertains.

I claim: I

In a hair curler including a main body element and a curl-retainingelement, said main body element including a base member having a pair ofleg members forming a hair-retaining channel therebetween, saidcurl-retaining element 'being of elongated configuration, and beingfixed at one end thereof to one end of said body element, andselectively interconnected at a second end thereof to a second end ofsaid body element, the improvement comprising: said second end of saidbody element having first and second intersecting slots disposed thereinand arranged at a mutual right angle, each of said slots having a firstouter portion of first relatively narrow width, and a second innerportion of second relatively greater width; said curl-retaining elementbeing of flexible planar configuration, and having a portion of reducedwidth corresponding to that of said second inner portion of each of saidslots, and thickness less than that of said first width, said portionbeing selectively positionable in either of said slots.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,111,171 3/38Conklin 13244 2,145,278 1/39 Solomon 13242 2,395,965 3/46 Grant 132422,668,546 2/54 Teopilian 13242 FOREIGN PATENTS 224,717 4/5 8 Australia.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

